July 2026

Surfing Hit Waves !

You might have seen the show "Vivement Dimanche" on June 28th; it was a really delightful program, bringing together a number of famous travelers and hosts of French hit shows like "Échappées Belles", "Des Trains pas comme les Autres", and "J’irai dormir chez vous". While Antoine de Maximy wasn’t the first to tell me he suffered during his childhood—back in the "Élucubrations" era—from sharing my first name (Antoine de Caunes had told me the exact same thing, and I feel for all the Antoines who faced that issue), the host of "Des Trains pas comme les Autres" revealed that his calling as a world traveler was sparked by listening to a famous radio series I created on France Inter in 1980 with the late Olivier Nanteau—a show that enjoyed tremendous success.

A short pilgrimage in Paris:

After arriving by train at Bercy station, I decided to walk to my meeting point. This route took me past the student residence where my life had been turned upside down: I had arrived as a young provincial lad coming to Paris to attend the École Centrale, only to leave two years later... topping the music charts and headlining at the Olympia! I had a symbolic glass of white wine (at 9 a.m.!) in memory of those days, then strolled through the 12th arrondissement— Place d’Aligre, the market, and the colorful shop signs.

Two heatwaves already...

...that’s a lot for June. The young plants I’d proudly shown off in an Instagram/Facebook post at the start of the month had grown absolutely massive. I sheltered them under a shade cloth that worked wonders on scorching days and offered some protection against the hailstorm that marked the end of the second heatwave—though there was still some damage. And now, there’s already talk of a third scorching spell for the second week of July!

In any case, I wish you all a wonderful summer, and I’ll see you on September 1st.

Antoine